On The Trail Of A Murderer
by VincentGrimm
Summary: Zak, a bounty hunter, is colsing in on his target who has fled to a sleepy town. He's so close he can taste his targets scent, but what is hunting the hunter?
1. Chapter 1

Zak sighed and looked at the clock, again, as continued through the tunnel into the sleepy town of Silent Hill. Already it was getting dark at four in the afternoon and the mist was descending from the mountains above them. Impatient with the seemingly never-ending tunnel Zak slammed his foot onto the accelerator and sped towards the light at its end.

Zak was an agent, of sorts, for the FBI. He did their dirty jobs and today he was doing one. A murderer was scheduled for execution the next day but the prisoner had escaped to Silent Hill and so it was Zak's job to make sure he made his appointment with the executioners. Zak had met the executioners in Silent Hill before, they rather creeped him out. Silent Hill had different laws to the rest of America when it came to executing prisoners, they were allowed to behead, hand and spear them to death as long as it happened in one move, which basically stopped them from torturing prisoners to death or slowly bleeding them to death.

Once he had arrived in the town itself Zak pulled up outside the Lakeside hotel, which had a good reputation but looking at it Zak thought otherwise. After collecting his bag Zak strolled through the grimy doors of the hotel. Inside it was freezing cold but Zak ignored it and walked over to the desk. The man behind it looked rather…dead. Zak thought of another word to describe him but none came.

"Green, Zak" said Zak to the dead-looking man who nodded and handed Zak a key from behind the desk. Zak took the key and walked up the stair until he reached the second floor. Once he found his room Zak unlocked it and stepped inside. The room seemed nice enough, well compared to the rest of the building. Zak walked over and tossed his bag onto the bed before removing his suit jacket and shirt. Once he had removed his shoes and socks Zak walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower to let it heat up. As the water splashed onto the plastic bottom of the shower Zak stood looking at his reflection.

He was twenty-four, he was six foot two and had shoulder length white hair which he always wore tied back. His eyes were a murky grey and his skin was perfect but very pale as he did most of his work at night. Rubbing his eyes slightly Zak removed the rest of his clothes and climbed into the hot shower.

After his rather brief shower Zak lay down on the bed and quickly fell into a deep sleep. Outside the fog was swiftly descending on the town.


	2. Chapter 2

When Zak awoke the sun had set and the mist had completely engulfed the town of Silent Hill. He got to his feet and walked over to the window and looked down; the streets lights lit up a dirt street two floors down. Zak stepped back from the window and opened his suitcase. It was filled with clothes and had a toothbrush, nothing more. Zak removed all of his clothes and ran his finger down the back of the suitcase before ripping the material back to reveal a thin compartment. Inside the compartment was a large box which Zak removed and put on his bed before he put all of his clothes back into the case and put it under his bed. Zak then turned his attention back to the black wooden box; he had inherited it from his grandfather. The bounty-hunter opened the box to reveal three pistols. Two of them were new, obviously not inherited and then there was a large black colt. Zak withdrew the two silver pistols and attached their silencers before slipping them into the holsters beneath his suit jacket. Gently Zak removed the long black colt from the box and examined it in the little light he had. It was a beautiful piece of work; it must have been older than Zak himself. Zak slipped the colt single-action into the holster on the back of his belt.

Quietly Zak left his room and locked his door before walking towards the staircase. Unknown to Zak there was a viscous liquid at the top of the stairs on which Zak slipped and was sent crashing down the flight of stairs. Down the two flights of stairs Zak crashed until he hit the stone floor of the entrance hall. Zak groaned and pulled himself to his feet, using the desk to give him support. Zak looked around; someone must have heard him crashing down the stairs, but if they had then they must have ignored it as no-one came to investigate. Seeing as he did not know his way around in the dark Zak flicked on the light switch activating the dull-yellow light bulb. He had a quick look around, it did not seem like there was anyone in the office or the kitchens behind. Zak then tried the front doors to find them bolted shut. Now he had a gut feeling that there was something not quite right in this place but batted it aside. Seeing as he could not get out Zak decided to go back to his room. Slowly Zak climbed the stairs that he had just fallen down, turning on the hallway lights as he went. When he reached the top of the stairs he knelt down to examine the liquid he had slipped on. After dipping his fingers into the black liquid Zak had no idea what it was. He reached up and flicked on the lights. When they flickered into life he almost stumbled down the stairs when he saw a huge pool of blood oozing from beneath a bedroom door. Zak hammered on the door and called out for someone in the room. He tried the door but found it locked. Removing a lock pick kit from his pocket Zak quickly had the door unlocked. He turned the handle and shoved the door but something was blocking it. Zak stepped back and kicked the door. The door did not fall inwards as something was blocking it. Instead the door hinges broke and the door fell outwards.

Silently Zak stepped into the bedroom, past the chest of drawers that was blocking the door. The windows were wide open which made the room freezing cold. Zak ignored the cold and flicked on the lights. Someone had smashed the light bulb and so Zak was stuck in the dark. A click echoed out from the bathroom and a white slice of light peeked out from under the door.

"Hello?" Zak called out but there was no reply. Drawing one of his silver pistols Zak walked over to the door. Lightly he pushed it open but was startled when someone slammed it closed. Zak faced the door; _what the hell is going on? _He thought. Zak decided not to wait to find out and kicked the door open in a shower of splinters. Zak stepped into the brightly lit bathroom to find it empty. The shower curtain was drawn across but that's not what worried Zak; the blood splattered across the bathroom was. Bloody handprints covered the walls and pools of blood rested around the bathtub. Zak walked over to the bathtub and reached out to pull back the shower curtain. _Where the hall has the person gone?_ he thought. Zak froze before pulling back the shower curtain; in horror movies it had not been a good idea to be inquisitive. _Hell_ he thought and ripped the curtain back. The bath was filled to the brim with water which was contaminated with dark blood. Zak bit his tongue to stop himself from throwing up. He knew what he had to do next; empty the bath. It was not something he wanted to do but his curiosity was begging him to do it. After pulling his shirt and jacket all the way up to his elbow Zak put his hand into the hot-bloody water. Slowly he reached the bottom and removed the plug. He snatched his hand out of the water and took a towel from the rail and wiped his bloody hand. Slowly the water emptied, Zak was glad to see that there was no body in there but that left the question of where the person had gone. Someone had definitely been in the room when he and tried to enter, so where had they gone?

_Maybe they haven't gone_ he thought.

Ice cold fear spread through Zak, making his throat dry and panic began to set in. Zak bolted for the door and managed to make it out of the bathroom. Swiftly he turned and slammed the door. The room was as cold as ever but Zak did not wait. Panic had set in and Zak ran out of the room to his own. When he arrived he found the door closed. With adrenaline flowing through his bloodstream Zak found his senses heightened. He heard the click of the light being switched off in the bathroom and the rattle of the doorknob as the door was opened. Zak fished the key from his pocket quickly but dropped it into the pool of blood. Zak could hear footsteps in the bedroom behind him but he dared not look back. Zak got the key from the pool of blood and opened his bedroom door before diving inside and slamming it shut.

Zak sat there, back against the door, head in his hands. It had been years since Zak had been scared like he just had been. He had been through fire fights and many other situations where he could have died but he had never felt so afraid. There was something about the place he was in; something was very, _very_ wrong.


	3. Chapter 3

Zak tilted his head back against the door and listened; the footsteps had disappeared down the stairs. Quietly he got back to his feet and went into the bathroom where he splashed himself with cold water to try and pull himself together. The cold sting of the water brought him to his senses. After drying his face Zak left his room quietly.

He waited for a few seconds, listening for any sound from the building but it was completely silent. Slowly the bounty hunter made his way down the corridor. On his way down he tried many of the doors but most of them were empty bedrooms. On the next floor Zak found a door that he could not unlock. Again Zak kicked the door inwards with a loud crash that reverberated around the old hotel. When he did not hear any footsteps or any sign of life Zak stepped into the bedroom. It too had its windows wide open and the bathroom light was on. Zak walked over to the door, gun drawn. He lightly pushed it open to reveal a clean bathroom. Carefully Zak walked into the room; something red caught his eye in the bathtub. Zak went over and examined the bizarre blood-covered objects in the bath. The bath was filled with pens, pins, knives, forks and many other items with sharp tips, blood had turned solid on the items which made Zak wonder how long they had been there. Zak sighed and got back to his feet; he had no reason to remain in the hotel and so holstered his gun and left the bedroom.

Half way down the hallway he heard scraping footsteps behind him. Zak turned around slowly and his eyesight picked out a figure that stood in the shadows.

"Hello?" Zak called out but got no reply. Slowly the figure made its way into the light that came from a small outside-light on the building next door. It was a man, an old man by the look of him. The man in question was horribly disfigured and was dripping with blood. He moaned and began to stumble towards Zak quickly. The bounty hunter called out for the man to stop but he did not. The old, disfigured individual opened his mouth wide to reveal rows of brown, broken teeth. Zak slammed his fist into the centre of the old man's chest sending him crashing against the doorframe of a bedroom door. The old man gurgled slightly as he slid down the doorframe and hit the floor with a dull slap. Not wanting to take the man's pulse Zak turned and ran down the corridor until he reached the front doors. He kicked them and tried unbolting them but nothing worked. Zak picked up an umbrella stand and threw it through one of the windows. The sound of breaking glass echoed outwards into the mist-covered town like a shot.

With almost cat-like agility Zak jumped and pulled himself through the window before setting off at a run to his car. The car was fine, to his delight. Swiftly he got into the drivers seat and fished the keys from his pocket. Before igniting the engine Zak looked out at the town and wondered where everyone was and who the man inside had been.

Since he did not know the answer to either question he turned the key, the engine roared loudly and Zak quickly put it into reverse and skidded out into the road, he was going to leave this god-forsaken town. With a piercing screech and a wave of smoke from the tyres Zak sped away into the darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

Zak sped along through the darkness of Silent Hill until he reached the tunnel he had entered through. Skidding to a halt, Zak jumped out of his car and roared in anger when he saw that the tunnel had been closed. _How? I came through here only hours earlier!_ he thought. After jumping back in his car Zak reversed and sped back into the town. His car screeched around corners and completely disregarded the posted speed limits; suddenly something rocketed out into the road ahead of him. Zak slammed onto the brakes and turned but he hit it with a loud crash.

Zak sat there in his car for a few seconds as he listened out for any movement. When he did not hear anything he drew one of his pistols and climbed out of his car; he was amazed to see that his car had sustained no damage. Slowly he walked around to the other side of his car. At first he was unsure of what he was seeing, then it sunk in. He had hit, what he could only describe, as two pairs of manikin legs stuck together at the waist. Blood oozed from them and Zak gathered that they were probably dead.

Zak sighed and leant against his car wondering what he should do. _Finish what you came here to do_ he told himself. He was on a hill that was leading up to a historical society building and so he had a great view of the town on this side of the lake. As the hunter sat there, scanning the town, he picked out a moving figure near the bottom of the hill. After watching it for a few seconds, trying to identify if it was male of female, Zak jumped over his car and ignited the engine before speeding off down the hill.

Zak had a general idea of where the person had gone and so sped into the side street. The street ended a few meters away and so Zak pulled up and climbed out of his car. He stood by his silent car listening to the night. He heard someone breathing hard in a garden to his left. Drawing his pistol Zak jumped onto a bin so that he could see over the wooden fence. A young woman was cowering there

"Hello" Zak said. The young woman cried out in fright but then noticed that Zak was not one of the things that lurked around Silent Hill. The young woman was pale and had dark hair and eyes.

"Oh hello" she replied to Zak

"What are you doing here?" Zak enquired while looking for a way into the garden

"I'm looking for my mother" she told him. The young woman opened a side gate and came out into the alley. Zak dropped down from the bins to meet her

"I'm Zak" Zak introduced himself.

"Angela" she told him as she shook his hand "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for a friend of mine" Zak told her, he withdrew a picture of James Sunderland and his wife.

"I know him, he's the man from the graveyard" Angela said

"Graveyard?" Zak queried

"The one on the outskirts of the town, he's here looking for someone" Angela explained. Zak raised an eyebrow _Who could he be looking for? An accomplice perhaps or someone to hide him? _

"Did he mention where he was going?" Zak asked her. Angela shook her head

"No, I'm sorry, was it important?" Angelica asked him. Zak nodded

"Just a bit" he said. Far behind them, near the entrance to the alley, something crashed into some piled up bins, knocking them down. Zak whirled around, raising his pistol. Through the mist a figure walked, dragging its feet whilst groaning. Zak instantly recognised it as the old man from the hotel, to Zak the figure also looked like someone he had met in his past but he could not quite put his finger on who it was. The old man continued to stumble forwards, reaching out for Zak. When it got close enough Zak kicked it sending the old, disfigured man, crashing against the asphalt. Slowly the old man got back to his feet and turned to face Zak. This time the man attacked swiftly as it tried to bite Zak. Caught off guard by the speed Zak was knocked backwards and off balance. He fell backwards and his head hit the asphalt with a sickly crack. Zak groaned as he tried to shake the shadows from his vision. The old man stood over him, ready to attack. Zak never gave him the luxury, swiftly drawing his other pistol he aimed at the old man as he lunged. A low thud noise and a shower of blood followed Zak pulling the trigger. The old man flew backwards and landed on his own back a foot or two away.

Zak dragged himself back to his feet and retrieved his other silver pistol which had been knocked out of his hands in the first attack. Holstering the two guns Zak touched the back of his head gingerly; he was not bleeding which was a plus. The old man did not move when Zak kicked him, Zak turned to find that Angela had run off. Zak sighed and climbed into his car to continue the search.

Now that Zak knew that James was in the town he felt energized. He had decided to check the hospital and so sped towards it. When he reached the hospital he pulled the handbrake and skidded into a parking space. Zak climbed out and laughed, perfect parking. One thing that Zak liked about himself was that he was the person many young men yearned to be, he was handsome, a martial artist, an avid boxer, a good cook, he was a bounty hunter with all the skills needed to be the best and he was a very important person to the government, A regular renaissance man some of the people in the FBI had called him. After laughing at the memory Zak walked into the shadowy hospital.

After two encounters Zak had figured out that these disfigured things were everywhere.

"Excuse me" Zak called out. The disfigured nurse turned to face him. Zak fist came shooting up and cracked the nurse across the side of her disfigured head. When she was on the floor Zak struck her across the back of the neck, killing her. Zak wandered through the hospital waving an iron bar he had picked up.

"Oh James!" he called out in a sing-song voice "I know you are in here, after all I am a hunter" he walked past a corpse of a _thing_ that he had not killed. He heard a door slam further down the corridor. When Zak reached it he found it locked. He sighed

"You can't hide from me" he reminded James. Stepping back Zak kicked the door open before walking through it. He heard a crash on the roof and so he sprinted up the stairs and out onto the roof.

The rooftop was empty and so Zak walked over to a large bit of fence that was missing. He looked over the edge and laughed; James had fallen off and was lying in the building a floor or so down. Zak turned and ran, jumping down six steps at a time. The door to the sanatorium was steel and locked so Zak could not kick the door down. Removing the silencer from his pistol Zak placed the small tip of the barrel into the keyhole and fired. The bang was incredible in the confined space but Zak ignored the ringing in his ears and pushed the door open. After re-attaching the silencer Zak holstered the pistol and picked up the iron bar and walked into the sanatorium to meet the man he was hunting.


	5. Chapter 5

Zak found the hole in the roof, where James had come through but there was no sign of the man himself. Zak searched the entire area but there was no sign of James Sunderland. Zak roared in anger and threw the iron bar at the wall. The screeching clang echoed through the hospital, drawing the _things_ to his location. Zak sat upon a bed in the hallway and wondered where James could have gone. All he knew was that James was in the town searching for someone, hardly the most helpful bit of information he had ever received. Zak sat up; he could hear someone shouting in the hospital; it sounded like James. Zak jumped to his feet and swept up the iron bar as he ran in the direction of the shouting. While Zak ran James went quiet and so Zak ran faster. A door blocked his way and so Zak lowered his shoulder and concentrated all his force into the one area. Zak slammed against the door; the door crunched loudly but remained fixed. Zak swore rubbing his incredibly sore shoulder. He coughed and held his head in his hands; he felt faint. Everything went black as Zak passed out and hit the floor with a dull thud.

Sometime later Zak came around. Firstly he sat on the floor in the dark hallway, head in hands, trying to figure out what would have caused him to pass out, it could not have been the door it had not hurt him enough. Zak looked around; everything looked different, the walls were tarnished with green mould. Zak got to his feet and withdrew a black torch which he shone on the wall. The area he had lit up was also covered with mould. He tried the door and found it opened easily. He was aware of footsteps in the corridor he had just entered but he heard the distinct sound of elevator doors closing. Zak swore and sprinted down the corridor until he reached the elevator doors, a dull hum told him that the elevator was moving.

Zak put his ear against the doors to see if he could hear any sound. At first he thought that he was hearing things but he could hear the distinct sound of a radio show being played inside the elevator. _What the hell? Why would James be listening to a radio show?_ Zak thought to himself. Zak closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on the sounds of the radio so that he could try and figure out what the radio was saying. After a minute or two the radio went quiet and Zak heard the elevator doors open again.

Zak whirled around and tried the door to the staircase, only to find it locked. Drawing his pistol again Zak shot the lock mechanism before holstering his gun and shoving the door open and sprinting down the stairs. He was unsure of what floor James had exited on and so was forced to search both floors. As he reached the first floor he heard the elevator again; it was going back up.

"Bloody hell" Zak said running back up the stairs.

Slightly out of breath, Zak crashed through the doors into the third floor area where the patients were kept. Thankfully the elevator was not making any noise and so Zak was not forced to go running back down the stairs again. He crept down the dark corridor with his torch off, so that he would not give his position away. After reaching the end of the corridor without finding anything Zak began to search the rooms, many of them were locked but one caught his interest. The bed still had an indent in it; it was in the shape of a human, on the table at the side there was a few capsules of tablets. As an agent of the FBI and the CIA Zak had a keen sense when it came to noticing features, he could smell the distinct odour of perfume; _He has a female accomplice_ Zak told himself.

As Zak left the room he noticed that a door was slightly ajar. A quick inspection of the door showed that it had the image of a woman painted upon it, complete with three-dimensional hand. Zak pulled the door open and descended into the darkness quietly as he turned off his torch, again, to avoid detection.

Zak was descending the stairs slowly when a piercing scream reaching his ears. The bounty hunter quickly broke into a sprint down the stairs. He crashed through the basement until he came into a hallway with many turns and no doors. Zak slowed to a stealthy walk, pistol in one hand and iron bar in the other. Up ahead there was a section of wall made up of chain link fence at a U-turn. Zak peeked around the corner and saw something stood over a young woman who seemed to have been speared.

The _thing_ stood over her seemed to be yet another monster except its head was a pyramid-shaped steel headdress. Blood steadily dripped from its spear as it ripped it free from her body with a sickly sucking noise. The large monster, as though sensing Zak, turned to face him. Instantly Zak knew he had been caught and so hiding was rather pointless. He straightened up, as he did so he brought up his pistol. Zak fired at the being until the clip ran dry. Zak lowered his pistol and stared at the being which was oozing blood but seemed perfectly fine otherwise. The pyramid-headed figure brought its arm back and flung the spear at Zak. With a curse of surprise Zak flung himself sideways but was not quick enough to completely avoid damage. The spear glanced off his shoulder sending a spurt of blood streaking across the wall.

Whatever the monster was it came stomping down the corridor towards Zak. Holstering his pistol Zak ran forwards and jumped; planting both feet directly in the beings chest. Zak knew many moves that could have more than one upshot, this one was going to push the being back and would move him further away so he could escape. The bounty hunter shoved off hard from Pyramid-Head, Zak backflipped perfectly landing on his feet and sending the massive creature crashing onto its back. Hoping it would stay down for a few seconds Zak fled from the hallway. He ran up the stairs and out onto the first floor. Zak put his head against the door and listened but there were no massive footfalls, no eerie scraping of metal. The only sound Zak heard was the sound of the front doors of the hospital. Zak quickly searched the rooms on the first floor and found a map with the Historical Society marked out. After taking the map Zak left the hospital silently.


	6. Chapter 6

Three Days Earlier

9:17AM

Zak's boss came around handing out files to the others who were there with Zak in the waiting room. Zak was handed a rather slim brown folder

"Sorry Zak, it's the short straw for you" the captain laughed. The others laughed too

"Damn, it had to happen sooner or later" Zak smiled as he opened his folder "James Sunderland, murdered his wife, escaped to a small town, execution date three days from now" Zak read aloud

"You've gotta go to the town and make sure he makes his appointment" the captain told him. Zak clicked his fingers and winked at the captain

"Gotcha" Zak said as he got to his feet and shook the captains before leaving the building and going back to his flat to prepare.

Back in Silent Hill

Zak climbed into the driver's seat of his Camero and withdrew his map again. He turned on the light in his car and checked to find the swiftest route to the Historical Society. Another mark drew Zak's attention, it was in the estate which was pretty close to his location; he decided to check out what was there first. Igniting the engine with a roar Zak pulled out into the road and set off at a casual speed. There seemed to be a lot more monsters out in the dark than there had been earlier in the evening. He weaved between them; they seemed to be attracted to the light from his headlights.

Zak reached the house on the map without incident. He left the engine running as he walked up the stairs. A letter lay there, just outside the door, it mentioned something about a wrench but there was nothing with the letter itself. Zak sat there on the steps thinking about past things and just having a rest when he heard dragging footsteps again. He got to his feet slowly and looked down the street and saw the old man he had already shot once. By now Zak had quite an understanding about these monsters, he knew that there were many different types and this old man was clearly one of them. Zak sighed and withdrew his pistol. Holding it out ahead of him he waited a few seconds as he watched the old man stumble towards him. Zak pulled the trigger again sending the old man crashing against the pavement in a wave of blood and gore. Zak walked over to the man and shot him another few times. The bounty hunter stood there and waited to see if the old man got up again, he never did. Zak turned and walked back to the Camero before speeding towards the Historical Society Building.

While Zak had been thinking on the doorstep James Sunderland had retrieved the key from the park and was now inside the Historical Society. Zak sped up the road towards the building while trying to think about who James was looking for. He pulled up outside and quickly reloaded his pistols before climbing out of the car. It did not look like there was anyone in the Historical Society building but Zak took care anyway.

Making slightly less noise than a Special Forces team Zak snuck into the building. The building was dark but Zak managed to navigate his way through the reception and into the next part of the building. He crouched in the doorway and listened out for any sounds of people but when he got none he quickly whipped out his torch and got back to his feet. He seemed to be in an art gallery with many display cases in the centre. Zak shone the torch across the wall until he came to the largest picture in the room.

Zak instantly recognised the character depicted in the painting; it was the pyramid headed _thing_ that had attacked him in the basement. In the picture the being was surrounded by people who had been executed and hung in gibbet-like devices. Zak walked towards it so that he could read the plate below it; _'Misty day, remains of the judgement'_ it read. Stepping away from the portrait, Zak turned around and went through the other door that was in the room. Inside the next room there was a broken display case and a large hole in the room. Zak stood in front of the large hole; there was a long sloping pathway that disappeared into darkness. Zak decided to go back and retrieve his items before proceeding into this new unknown.

After returning to his car Zak pulled out into the road and sped back to the Lakeview hotel so that he could retrieve his case. As he pulled up Zak noticed that the doors were slightly ajar, as though someone had punched through them. Zak withdrew his pistol and quietly entered the building.

Once inside he waited and, as he always did, listened out for any sign of life. Again he heard nothing and so proceeded up the stairs in silence until he reached his room. He quietly opened the door and stepped inside. Withdrawing his torch Zak scanned the room swiftly but paused; there was someone asleep in his bed. Zak walked around to the side of the bed and was surprised to find Angela, the woman he had met in the alley, was the person asleep. Unconsciously sensing his presence Angela opened her eyes and started.

"Hey, it's me" Zak told her as he caught her by her arm to stop her falling out of the bed. Angela seemed panicked for a few seconds

"Oh, hello, what are you doing here?" she enquired

"This is my room" he told her with a smile "What are you doing here?"

"I was tired, I've been looking for my mother for ages now" Angela explained. Zak pulled his case out from under his bed and began to put the spare clips, bandages and other items into a black bag he always carried with him.

"Where are you going?" Angela asked him

"I have found James, I am going to follow him" Zak told her

"Why all the bullets? Are you going to kill him?" she exclaimed

"No, these are for my own protection" Zak lied. Angela nodded; she believed him. Slowly the young woman walked towards the door

"Where are you going?" Zak asked her

"I am going to carry on looking for my mother" she told him. Zak nodded and got to his feet after zipping up the large black bag.

"Alright" he merely said before walking past her and out of the room.

"Umm…Zak?" Angela said

"Yes?" Zak enquired

"Be careful" she told him with a smile. Zak nodded and returned the smile

"You too Angela, I hope you find your mother" he replied before leaving the hotel and speeding back up towards the Historical Society. Zak returned to the large hole in the wall and began to jog down into the darkness.


	7. Chapter 7

Zak continued down the path that had once been hidden behind a wall. As he continued down the path it became much colder; he must have been nearing sea-level. After a while he reached a steel door, he pressed his hands against it and found that it too was cold. Zak twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open. He emerged in a small square room which contained a desk, a table with a box upon it and another door. Zak picked a file up off the desk, the header said Toluca Prison. Zak tossed the pad back down and looked around _So this is the infamous Toluca Prison_ Zak thought. He went over to the box that lay upon the table and opened it; it contained a master key. After pocketing the key Zak left the room. In the next room there was a large hole in the floor, Zak looked down but it was too dark to see anything. Zak sat on the edge and lowered himself as far as he could and then, after a moments pause, let go.

Authors Note: If you are playing Silent Hill 2 whilst reading this I must warn you that it does contain spoilers because this is the _exact _path James takes in Silent Hill 2, just thought I would let you know!

Zak fell for a few seconds until he hit the ground hard. Zak felt around for his torch which he had dropped. Once he had located it he activated it and swept the area with its white beam of light. He knew that he was out in the lake, on a small island on which the prison was situated. He looked up but could not see the top where he had dropped from, the small room he was in seemed to be a well; except for the steel door. Zak walked up to it and twisted the handle before slamming his shoulder against it opening his path to the next room. Zak stepped into the next area and his feet were instantly submerged in cold water.

"Oh, how brilliant!" he said sarcastically "James you have a lot to answer for" Zak sloshed forwards through the water towards another door. Zak stepped out of the cold water onto a small step. There was something in the air which made Zak continuously look back; he did not feel safe, not in the slightest. Turning back to the door Zak twisted the handle and pulled it towards him before stepping through it.

Zak walked forwards to the next tunnel of darkness that stretched even further into the depths of the prison. Zak stood on its edge and looked down into the obscure darkness. There was something mesmerising about it.

Zak stood there rocking backwards and forwards slightly on his heels as he thought about his past. Suddenly he tipped too far forwards, unprepared for the fall he reached out desperately to catch something but it was too late. His flailing figure vanished into the darkness of the prison as many detainees had done before him.

Zak Green, a bounty hunter for the FBI; a pillar of strength and technique hit the ground with a dull thud. He lay there, groaning in pain as he tried to get back to his feet. At first he found it impossible, the fall had knocked all of the wind out of him. After two minutes of hard breathing he dragged himself to his feet, he was in a small room; its use was only for the arrival of prisoners. After scooping up the bag Zak opened the door and stepped through into the prison's main building. He emerged in a cafeteria, he locked the door behind him using the master key; he still felt uneasy and so did not want anything surprising him from behind. The cafeteria was in a shambles, if there had still been prison officers here they would not have let this happen. As Zak walked towards the door he noticed a dead body which was lying against a table top; it looked like someone had shot him in the back of the head. _Cowards_ Zak thought; he had never shot anyone in the back.

Zak continued through the prison, he knew the layout of the prison; the blueprints were in Washington. Zak emerged into a large garden area; this place had _not_ been in the blueprints. It was freezing cold and had an air of death about it; in fact the entire prison area had a cold air about it. Slowly Zak moved through the garden towards the centre. When he reached the heart of the garden he was unsettled to see a set of gallows. He stood there looking up at the gallows with a fearful feeling in the back of his mind. _What a god forsaken place this is, how can they justify using such barbaric ways of execution, I must admit some of the people that come here deserve death but not like this _Zak though. Turning on his heel Zak returned to the prison. The bounty hunter continued through the prison, past the cells of deceased inmates and past quarters of no-doubt deceased wardens. In one room Zak found another passage downwards into darkness. The hunter sat down on its edge and wondered what it must have been like for the people in the prison. They knew that they were going to die, more likely sooner than later, and they knew that they would have to choose the way they perished. Never in his past had Zak been disturbed by what he had seen or heard; he had killed many people in pursuit of his goal but the prison, its air of mortality, shook him down to his core. He felt cold tears slide down his face as he imagined himself in the place of the prisoners.

Casually he withdrew one of his silver pistols and removed the silencer. Zak pointed the gun at himself; the barrel of the pistol reminded him of the tunnel he was sat on the edge of. Zak pulled the trigger with no regret for killing himself. A snap echoed out as the pistol jammed. Zak opened his eyes and started _What the hell am I doing?_ he thought. He quickly repaired the pistol before pointing the gun at the wall and pulled the trigger. The crack was tremendous in the small white room; the muzzle flash was as bright as the sun. Bits of tile were sent flying as Zak shot them. He looked at the smoke which curled around him. He smiled to himself before re-attaching the silencer and then dropped into the darkness. _I cannot let this darkness win, I am stronger than any of my emotions_ he thought as he fell and landed on his feet a few meters down.

Calling upon the aid of his torch again Zak examined the small room he was in. It seemed to be a small square of holding cells; no doubt for the most dangerous of prisoners. The room was tiled and had five doors; four of them were prison cells and the set of double doors no doubt led somewhere else. Zak approached one of the doors but got a strong smell of something rotting. Zak guessed it was an inmate and so stepped back. He had no reason to search the cells and so continued onwards through the double doors. He emerged in a mortuary. There was a body on a table in front of him, the room was decorated with alcoves into which bodies had been placed, sometimes there were three or four bodies in a single alcove. The air in the room stunk of rotting flesh and so Zak quickly passed through another set of double doors into yet another chute room. In this one a body lay by his side on a steel hospital bed near the edge. The chute wall was splattered with dried blood and other disgusting fluids. Zak went over to the bed and unlocked the wheels before wheeling the body over to the edge of the abyss.

"I'd rather you take the fall" Zak told the body before shoving it off the edge. He heard the hospital bed hit the ground; it was not very deep this chute, _so why is it so dark? _he wondered. Someone came through the door behind him, someone big. Zak whirled around to see the Pyramid-headed figure that was depicted in the picture on the surface. They stood face to headdress; neither moved they merely faced each other. As though someone was cleaning a dirty window in his mind Zak finally understood who this Pyramid-Headed figure was.

"Executioner" Zak whispered. The executioner took a step back and prepared to do its job. Zak looked down at the great knife it carried. The screeches the knife made, as the executioner dragged it backwards across the floor to get more range for the strike, seemed to be shrieks of pleasure; as though it knew what was going to happen next. The sinister squeals of excitement from the knife reverberated around the small stone room as the executioner swung its knife forwards; the sharp edge coming forwards to finally end Zak's life of murder.

At the last minute Zak stepped backwards off the edge, narrowly avoiding the blade. As he fell backwards he withdrew his pistols and shot Pyramid-Head many times before he had fallen too far to be able to see it. He backflipped in mid air and landed on his feet, many feet below. Zak looked up; the executioner was looking down at him but not following him. Zak raised his pistol and fired once knocking the executioner backwards out of sight with a loud clang as the bullet hit its metal headdress. Zak smiled to himself as he reloaded his pistols.

"You're not the only one who has empathy with death!" Zak shouted up to the inhuman executioner. "We are alike" he whispered as he turned and walked towards the elevator that was at the end of the hall he was now in.


	8. Chapter 8

As the elevator descended Zak sat at the inner back corner, head in hands. Thus far the mission had not tested him physically, only mentally. He had found the prison a trying area, the mere thought of the people waiting to be executed made Zak want to finish this job and leave; but he was unsure why. He had faced off his demons so many years ago and so there was no reason why new ones should emerge. He closed his eyes and listened to the steady whirring of the elevator mechanism in the background. That old man who had been on the surface still bugged Zak; he had looked familiar but Zak could not pin down from where. The elevator whirred to a sluggish stop and the doors opened. Slowly Zak got to his feet and picked up his bag before leaving into a small square room. There was a single door and so he had no other direction to go in.

Zak walked through the door into an area which seemed to be the inside of a home. Zak walked through the wooden-panelled hallways passing bodies of monsters which had already been killed. As he walked through the maze-like house Zak came to a hallway which was like a T-Junction. To both his left and right there were ladders leading down and behind him was the hall from which he had come. Zak walked over to the right hand ladder and descended it swiftly. Zak dropped and landed on a concrete floor, He was at another T-Junction. Zak decided to go left and walked along, making sure he was cautious. The floor changed to a chain-link rather than concrete which made his footsteps clatter loudly. He paused and was sure he had heard footsteps on the floor somewhere in the circular track-like room. From what he could gather the path he was on was a great circle which surrounded a central area, no doubt a room. He continued to walk forwards until he rounded a corner and came into view of another Pyramid-Head. This one was not like the one he had encountered upstairs. This one was smaller and was armed with a spear; _the one from the hospital? _Zak thought. Slowly the executioner began to walk forwards. Zak was taller than this one and so he was not worried about a fight with it, he hoped that it would not fight as it had no chance. Unfortunately it did seem to want a tussle with Zak. It tried stabbing him but Zak stepped aside and caught the spear. Zak jumped and kicked Pyramid Head knocking it backwards. The spear was pulled from Zak's hands and so Zak removed a combat knife from his bag before he tucked the knife into his belt and threw the bag behind him. Pyramid Head straightened up facing Zak before it raised its spear in one hand. Zak raised his fists for combat; _this should be interesting _Zak thought.

The Pyramid Head was well built; for the monsters anyway and, no doubt, had a good sense of weak points and fatal areas. Pyramid Head attacked; the spear being thrust forwards towards Zak's abdomen. Zak twirled, deflecting the spear with his palm. As Zak twirled again he withdrew his knife before ramming it home just beneath the steel headdress. Quickly ripping the knife away Zak kicked the executioner knocking it backwards. The executioner straightened up before attacking again.

Zak had never had such a fight it was man against beast, although it is up to you to decide which is which. Zak stabbed the executioner again and again before backflipping out of reach, but to be fair the executioner gave as good as it got. Zak was slammed against the ground but managed to roll himself before being turned into a prodding post. Zak managed to get to his feet but the executioner managed to knock his knife from his hands. Before Zak could catch his knife it fell through the steel chain-link floor and out of sight. Whilst Zak was looking at the floor Pyramid Head came running forwards and attempted to stab Zak in the side of the head. As quick as a flash Zak grabbed the spear and snapped it in half before running the half he had into the underside of the helmet with a sickly crunch. Black blood spread across Zak's hands; _I must have hit an artery or something_ Zak thought as he watched Pyramid Head thrash around before falling dead.

Zak fell backwards landing on the steel floor.

"I guess that was the physical part of the mission" he joked aloud. By now he knew that James must have got quite far ahead of him. Zak looked at his bloody hand which he had cut open when he accidentally struck the headdress. He grabbed his bag and retrieved some bandages to cover his wound until he left Silent Hill and got some decent treatment.

Slowly Zak got to his feet before returning to the ladder he had come down on. He swiftly scaled the ladder before searching the rest of the building he was in. He managed to find another ladder, which led somewhere else. The wound on his hand was irritating but Zak ignored it as he searched the underground tunnels. He quickly scaled another ladder but he stopped before the top; there was a loud clicking sound. He stuck his head over the top of the ladder; there was a large steel head in the centre of the room and another door past it. Once he had climbed up he quickly found out what the clicking noise had been; it was a fuse box which someone had cut through. Zak walked through the door into a steel room, directly ahead of him there was another path leading downwards and so Zak began to walk down it. He emerged in a room which seemed to be a visitors area in a prison; which it turned to be.

"Well hello" a young woman in the cell said to Zak. The woman seemed to be in her middle ages and had yellow bleached hair and pale skin.

"I hadn't expected anyone to be left in the prison" Zak told her as he sat down on one of the chairs. The woman merely smiled

"Well here I am" she smiled "The name's Maria"

"Zak" Zak told her "Why are you in there anyway?" Maria smiled

"I can't say" She informed him. Zak merely nodded; he did not really care about why the woman was there.

"Well I have to get going" he told her as he got to his feet

"Goodbye, Zak" Maria said waving slightly as Zak got to his feet and left the cell.

Zak went back through the building; there had been a door earlier but Zak had cared more about exploring the area. When he returned to the door he found that wires had blocked it off at one point but someone had cut through them. There was yet another ladder; Zak was getting rather sick of holes, ladders and secret passages, Silent Hill just seemed to continuously throw new things at him and it was getting rather tedious. But he continued onwards anyway, into a brand new unknown, he was getting rather sick of unknowns too…


	9. Chapter 9

Zak dropped off the ladder and landed with a loud splash in yet more cold water.

"Oh my god!" he laughed "What the hell is going on here?" he strolled through the cold water trying to ignore the iciness of it. He heard splashing footsteps coming towards him from a bend up ahead. His torch was off and tucked away safely which meant he could not see very well but luckily whatever was moving could not see him either. There was faint shafts of light from somewhere, just enough to give Zak a faded view of the area ahead of him. Another Pyramid Head, roughly the same size as the one he had just killed, reached the corner and looked left then right. Zak was hidden in shadow and so it could not have spotted him, could it? Pyramid Head turned and began to walk down the corridor Zak was in. Zak remained still; maybe it would miss him if he did not move or make a sound. The executioner got level with him but strolled past him towards the ladder. When it reached the ladder if froze and tilted its coned head to one side. Zak tensed _Get ready to run_ he thought. Zak bolted before the executioner could move, after one step Zak was going to stop just in case it was not coming after him but when he had moved he had created a loud splash. The executioner whirled around faster than Zak would have expected but he continued to run as fast as he could. He heard a whistling and rolled sideways. The spear, hurled by the executioner caught Zak by the elbow sending a fresh wave of pain spreading through his right arm. He did not stop; instead Zak continued to sprint into the darkness. There was a door up ahead and so Zak made a run for it. He could hear the echoes of splashing as the executioner came running after him. _I must have really pissed them off_ Zak thought, he had never seen an executioner run before, in fact he had never seen any of the monsters run before. Zak crashed through the door before slamming it behind him.

Zak stepped away, facing the door, but there was no sound from the other side of the door. Behind him there was another and so Zak quickly exited through it. By now he was bleeding rather profusely from his elbow wound, after noticing this Zak patched himself up as best he could before continuing. He seemed to be in yet another house, this one was set out just the same, wooden walls and dirty floors. Across one door there was newspaper clippings _Odd_ Zak merely through as he walked towards it. Roughly Zak shook the handle but it would not open. He slammed his shoulder against the door but it remained fixed. Drawing one of his guns Zak shot the lock but the bullet ricocheted off.

"What the hell?" Zak said out loud. Zak continued through the building and into another room. This room contained five hanging bodies wrapped in death shrouds. Each one had a cloth with something written on it covering their faces. Zak went over to one; the story told him that the person had been an arsonist. The being screamed startling Zak. He stumbled backwards crashing against the fence. The hanging person began to thrash around whilst making choking noises. Zak, scared almost to death, drew his pistol and sunk a couple of shots into the hanging person when the others began to fearfully scream, or shout and thrash about. Zak ran for the door and threw himself out into the hallway before slamming the door. Instantly the screams and shouts were cut short. Zak sat there, back to the door, head against his knees. His breathing was short and panicked _What the hell happened in there?_ he thought to himself.

Once he had calmed down enough Zak got to his feet and exited through the other door. Again he was in a hallway with two turns when he reached a ladder and a door, with his gun out Zak twisted the doorknob and stepped cautiously inside. This room looked just the same as the one with hanging people, it even had the ropes it only lacked bodies. Zak walked into the centre of the room and looked around, the room felt warm.

"I'm gonna kill you!" someone screamed. Zak whirled around to find no-one there. A cacophony of hatred screams and fearful cries began to fill the room. Zak collapsed to his knees, hands over his ears as he tried to drown them out. He ran for the door but found it locked. A laugh echoed through the cries

"Not so easy is it?" a female's voice shrieked in his ear. Zak slammed himself against the door, going straight through the brittle wood. Just like in the other room all the voices came to a stop once he was outside. He lay there, tears streaming down his face, fear coming off him in waves whilst shaking like a leaf.

Still shaking, Zak got to his feet and went over to the ladder. He dropped off it a few feet down and landed in yet more cold water with a splash. Ahead of him there was a gate to his right and a door straight ahead. Zak knelt in the water before plunging his head into it. The cold water seemed to rip his fear right out of him and distil his shaken soul. When he brought his head back up his pupils were wide, only a light blue corona of his iris was visible, as though something was eclipsing his humane side, the part that made him feel guilty.

Zak walked forwards, through the freezing water which barely covered his feet. The gate was open but Zak ignored it and proceeded towards the door. He found it unlocked and so stepped inside. He recognised the room; it was the room that the woman Maria had been in. When he stepped inside he saw her body lying on the bed. Slowly he walked over to her; it looked like she had been beaten to death if anything. One side of her head was badly bruised ad blood had created a small puddle by her side. Zak sighed and turned before leaving the room, he did not care about who or what had killed her; he was solely concentrating on James Sunderland. Zak proceeded through the gate and up another ladder out into a large grassy area.

Many gravestones stuck out of the ground; after all it was a graveyard. Zak walked past the stones without paying much attention to them. At the far left of the graveyard there were three open graves; most likely awaiting bodies provided by the executioners. Zak walked over to them and began to read from right to left. The far right belonged to a man named Eddie Dombrowski; Zak had no idea who he was. Zak started when he saw who the central grave awaited; Angela Orosco _Is it the woman I met? I never got her last name_ Zak thought, he knew it was her something inside him told him. He smiled when he saw the final grave; James Sunderland.

"This is one grave that _will_ be filled" Zak told the headstone. Zak paused; there was no bottom on James' grave. Zak dropped into it without a second thought. He was in a mist filled tunnel

"More tunnels! How exciting!" Zak shouted sarcastically at the roof. After sighing and pulling the strap for the bag further up his shoulder Zak began to jog into the depths of the tunnel; he did not really care where it went as long as James ended up in his designated hole. As he reached the end of the path, marked out by a blood-red door, Zak wondered why his name had not been carved upon a gravestone. _Because I'm an executioner, not an executed_ Zak thought. He shook his head and opened the red door.

He emerged in a freezer room. Bodies littered the floors while pistol-smoke still hung in the air. After years of being in an occupation that involved guns Zak could recognise the smell of gunpowder anywhere. There were droplets of blood all over the floor, along with shell casings. Zak opened the double doors into a larger freezer area. Here there were many hanging bits of meat but Zak merely walked past them. There was a body not too far away. Zak walked over to it; it was the body of an overweight man who had been shot dead. In his hand there was a revolver which was spent of all its ammunition. Zak heard the doors open behind him and so ran and hid behind a bit of hanging meat. Two of the smaller executioners appeared, they were unarmed. They both walked over to the dead man and lifted his body off the ground; one took his arms the other took his legs. Swiftly and silently the two took the large male's body out of sight and back through the double doors. _Eddie Dombrowski?_ Zak questioned in his mind. There was a set of large bay doors at the end of the room. Zak walked over to them and hauled one of the large steel access doors open before stepping out onto the misty dock.

Zak took a few minutes to look out at the lake; it was a beautiful sight. With all the fog it made Silent Hill all the more mysterious _not that it needs it, this place doesn't make any sense anyway_ Zak thought smiling ever so slightly. He walked down the dock and found a rowing boat moored there. _If James went this way then wouldn't he have taken the boat?_ he mused. _Silent Hill makes no sense, remember? Just take the boat and find him_ he thought. Zak stepped off the dock and into the boat carefully and began to row towards a bright light in the distance.


	10. Chapter 10

A minute or so later Zak arrived at the harbour on the opposite side of the lake. The light had been from a lamppost on the docks. Zak quickly climbed out of the boat and began his walk up the path towards the Lake View Hotel.

The doors clicked open easily and Zak stepped into the building. _I must be getting close now_ Zak thought as he explored the ground floor. The first door he went through emerged in a dining room complete with grand piano. Many of the chairs were atop of the tables in the room but one table was set out with a single plate and a set of cutlery. Zak walked over to the misted bay windows, there was a picture of a cat drawn on it by a child dragging its finger through the misted up window, he guessed it was a child because the lines were very thin. Zak left the room quietly and walked into the room opposite. Zak emerged in a large entrance hall, complete with a grand staircase and a dormant music box. A letter lay upon the desk; it said that James' video tape was in the first floor office _Video tape? Sounds kinky_ Zak thought to himself. Zak walked silently up the grand staircase and went left at the top through the double doors. He tried getting to the third floor but found it barred by a steel shutter. As he walked back down to the second floor he heard a loud click, it sounded like a lock coming disengaged. A set of double doors was the origin of the noise. Zak slid one of them over and stepped inside. He reached out and flicked the light switch which brought the great chandelier to life. He looked around the great hall with a curious look on his face. There was no-one in there so how could it have unlocked itself? The hall was decorated by great round tables around which chairs were located. Each table was covered by a red velvet sheet. Behind Zak the door slammed shut before locking itself. He tried the door vigorously but it would not budge.

"Oh great" Zak muttered before turning back to the room. The magnificent crystal chandelier still shone brightly in the centre of the room but Zak could not care less; he just wanted to get out of the room and find James Sunderland so that this whole wretched Silent Hill business could be put to rest. On the other side of the room the door clicked open. Zak sprinted towards it, not wanting to miss his chance to escape. Halfway across the room he stopped but slipped on the polished floor and came crashing onto his side. Pyramid Head, the largest of them which stood at the exact same height as Zak, had entered the room with its great knife. Behind it the door slid closed slowly and clicked shut.

Authors Note; I have made James _not_ pick up Pyramid Head's great knife when he had the chance so that Pyramid itself could have it, trust me I _am_ going somewhere with this

Zak picked himself up from the floor to face the executioner which stood six to seven meters away. Music began to play; it was coming from the music box in the main hall, _James!_ Zak though instantly _He's using the music box for some reason, I'm so close! _Zak had his own problems to deal with, a six foot executioner with a very big carving knife. After a minute or so Zak heard the shutters no the third floor rattle open _He's upstairs_ Zak thought.

"Well?" he asked Pyramid Head "What exactly are you waiting for?" Pyramid Head merely stood there watching him. Zak ran his fingers through his hair

"If it doesn't bother you, I'll just leave" Zak told Pyramid Head. Zak turned to walk towards the door when the executioner moved, when Zak stopped it stopped. Zak moved again and the executioner moved too.

"This is annoying" Zak informed it "Let me go or I will kill you" The executioner walked towards him, the great knife swinging with it. Zak thought about going for his gun but gave the executioner the benefit of a doubt. The executioner came right up to him so that Zak could smell the stench of death that surrounded it. Both of them stood close again, Zak could feel the stillness of the air around it and the executioner could sense the raw fury that slumbered in Zak's heart. Pyramid Head turned and face the door it had come through, the door clicked open and the disfigured old man entered before the door slid closed behind it. Zak looked at the Pyramid Head which was still watching the disfigured old man who was stumbled towards them.

Like a great lock, one which had been ticking past as the cogs refused to link together, finally locked into place with a great crunch that was almost deafening in Zak's mind; everything was finally becoming clear. He recognised the man; it was his father who he had murdered. Everything felt cold and numb in Zak's mind.

"You're dead" Zak told his father who merely stood there. Pyramid Head held out the great knife, Zak took it in his right hand whilst dropping his bag from his left hand. As though in a dream, just as he had been in the prison when he went to kill himself, Zak walked forwards with the great knife. Pyramid Head watched as Zak walked forwards, ready to kill his father again. Zak brought he knife up with a great whooshing noise. Blood rippled through the air in one long scarlet wave. The knife dug itself into the wooden floor of the building when Zak finished his attack. On the floor the old man finally died.

It was just another day in Zak's mind, he was fifteen, outside the snow was pouring down harder than ever. He heard the click of his living room door but he continued playing anyway.

"You in here freak?" a voice called out. Zak tensed; his father had not meant to be home for at least another week, he looked up at the calendar, there was a red cross a week from the day they were on.

"Answer me!" a voice bellowed. Zak closed his eyes both in his memories and in his actual life. Whatever happened next Zak had blocked out.

Back in Silent Hill Zak turned to face Pyramid Head who had come over to stand by him. Zak handed it its great execution weapon. The executioner walked away and vanished through one of the double doors in the room. A gust of cold wind funnelled through the hall engulfing Zak. He looked at the walls and noticed that they were all peeling and furry from damp. He whirled around, the room was only lit by grey light which filtered through the dirty windows; the chandelier had gone out above him. The hotel was freezing cold and had a bitter feeling in the air. Zak left the room and was about to take the stairs to the third floor when he found a large concrete wall blocking the stairs. All the walls in the hotel were grey and peeling, as thought years of damp had suddenly appeared in no time at all. Zak knew of no explanation of how this could have happened in so little time and did not try and figure it out; after all it was Silent Hill. Zak sprinted back down the stairs onto the first floor, a door refused to budge as he made his way back towards the stairs that led to the basement and so Zak was forced to remove it. After crashing through the door in a hail of splinters Zak dived down yet another flight of stairs and crashed into waist high water.


	11. Chapter 11

With the entire hotel flooded and in silence Zak Green had a much higher chance of tracking his quarry who moved somewhere in this perverted version of a hotel. As silently as he could, whilst wading through waist high flood waters, Zak moved towards a door which stood ajar; it moved ever so slightly due to the small current created. With his hands almost numb from the water Zak reached out and pulled the door open. The wooden door led into a bar which was in darkness, just like the rest of the hotel. _The floodwaters must have shot the electrics_ Zak thought as he moved around the bar and through the back door. The next room had no windows and so was pitch black. As Zak moved through the room the current he created by his movement shut the door behind him leaving him completely in the dark as no light could reflect from the bar.

"Damn" Zak cursed as he fished out his torch. He activated it and it shone an eerie orange. _Hmm…low batteries_ Zak mused as he shook the torch before banging it against his palm. Seeing as the age old method of hammering it did not work Zak decided to give it up and use the rapidly depleting torch to cut a swathe through the ever enclosing darkness.

He seemed to be in a kitchen of sorts, he quickly withdrew his gun; it was a comfort thing. A door handle glittered and so Zak naturally made his way towards it. A piercing ring echoed through the small room startling Zak half to death. He slapped his hand against his chest; it was his mobile phone!

"Yeah?" he quickly said after he had retrieved it.

"_Go…back_" a female voice, heavy with distortion and white noise, told him "_Please, Zak…just go back!_"

"Who is this?" Zak enquired.

"_Please!_" sobbed the caller "_Go back…don't go any further!_" then the call was cut short leaving Zak with a silent phone. When he checked his call log it told him that he had not had a call in days, he did not even have any signal to retrieve a call.

The bounty hunter continued through the dark waves through another door out of the kitchen. He emerged in a flooded, dark corridor. At the end of the hall a door slammed closed and so Zak began to run towards it. In waist high water running was near impossible but Zak tried his best. The door handle of the door was very warm but Zak pulled it open anyway. He stepped into a hallway where flames snaked their way up walls and across the staircase. Behind him the door slammed closed but Zak barely heard it over the tremendous roar of the flames. When he finally saw no way through beyond the flames Zak turned back to the closed door. Zak reached out and turned the door knob with a loud click and then he pushed the door open. Instantly he was flooded by cold water again but he was now in a different room; he was at a small steel staircase that led upwards. Zak quickly scaled the stairs up to the third floor where he crashed through another door and out into a burnt-out third floor.

The smell of burnt wood hung heavily in the air as Zak pushed onwards through the burnt-out hotel floor. Zak continued through the greying hallways until he reached a red-steel door. Precariously Zak proceeded through the door into a freezing cold square concrete room. A large set of double steel doors stood to his left but Zak felt insecure just looking at them. Ahead of him nine-red squares were attached to a wall in a square. Staring at them made him feel nauseous for a few seconds until everything began to swirl and Zak fell onto his backside with a large thud. The pain accompanying the fall shook him from his dreamy haze and gave him new courage.

Zak turned to face the double doors without fear or qualm and proceeded onwards, through the doors into a large room. The room stunk of dried blood, but that was not what got Zak's attention. Two of the smaller Pyramid Head's had been skewered by their own spears; directly below the headdress. Black blood slid down the spear and congregated in pools. Zak swiftly past them and went through the door on the left ahead of him. The bounty hunter emerged in a long concrete hallway, far in the distance Zak heard a clang rattle outwards. Intrigued by the sound Zak began to sprint down the corridor which seemed without an end. When he finally reached its conclusion he was fearful to open the door; this was the end or could be the end of this entire bizarre mission, did he really want it to end?

Cautiously Zak proceeded through the door, he emerged at the bottom of a large stairway which circled above him to dizzying heights. A gunshot echoed out far above him and so Zak set off quickly. Mist had made the stairs slippery but Zak's shoes managed to compensate. Further and higher Zak ran, the mist was getting thicker but it did not deter Zak. On one corner Zak slipped and crashed against the next flight of stairs. Pain rippled through him but Zak pushed onwards going even higher; far above the hotel and anywhere else in Silent Hill.


	12. Chapter 12

Soon Zak came to a staircase which could be winched upwards, Zak grabbed the winch and pulled sending the red staircase upwards to give him access to the top floor of the building. Quietly he climbed up the final stairs and emerged in a large square area. James Sunderland, Zak's continuous quarry, was stood near a bed and a body of one of the monsters that roamed the town. Zak withdrew his silver pistol and pointed it at James' head. The sound of the gun cocking echoed outwards like a gunshot in itself. James stood up straighter and tilted his head to one side

"James Sunderland; drop the gun and get on your knees" Zak ordered. James mumbled something but did not drop the rife he cradled in his arms. Zak moved forwards slowly

"Drop it before I drop you" Zak ordered, he prodded James in the back with the pistol. Something flashed in the pale light of the sun that bathed Silent Hill, something silver. James was stood facing Zak now, the kitchen knife Angela Orosco had given him was stuck deep in his stomach. James stood there looking into Zak's eyes but he said nothing. Slowly the knife was removed as James stepped back letting Zak collapse onto his knees. James walked past Zak silently towards the stairs. A shadow fell over him and Zak looked up to see Pyramid Head standing over him with its great knife. The executioner pulled its arm back and swung the knife forwards but Zak was paying no attention; he had no fear of the executioner, if anything the executioner should have feared Zak and Zak truly believed this. The knife turned to smoke on the wind before it collided with Zak as did the executioner itself.

James placed his hand on the cold steel railing and let the knife fall to the ground with a shrieking clang. The eerie sound echoed out as the knife fell down thee steps before falling through the gap between two of the stairs and fell into the lake miles below.

From where Zak was knelt he could see the ripples through the chain link floor he was knelt upon. Gritting his teeth against the pain and the blood which splattered his suit Zak got to his feet and withdrew the six-shot colt from the back of his belt.

_It's finally over_ thought James as he looked down at the lake _Mary, I can finally leave you in peace_.

A movement caught James' eye and he turned to see Zak who was stood with a pistol pointed at him. James watched as two large Pyramid-Head's appeared at his shoulders. Zak knew they were there but ignored them

"You're not leaving this place James" Zak said before pulling the trigger. An immense bang split the silence right across Silent Hill as a flash illuminated Zak's pale features. The silver shot flashed across the short distance hitting James directly in the chest, knocking him sideways against the railing. Zak stumbled forwards, fury rushing through his being, as he ran towards James he dropped his gun but he did not care; he was nearly dead himself.

Zak slammed into James knocking them both over the edge, both of them plummeted through the mist and light until they collided with the dark and unrelenting waters of the lake; the grave of many a person.


End file.
